Worth It
by Eternity Crystal
Summary: In the world of high schools, prom was the biggest, most important event. Victor, normally not one for such events, was gathering his nerve up, because Cardia, the girl he likes, really wants to go. However, his bad luck gets in the way time and time again, seeming like the universe was against him. Will he ever be able to ask her to Prom?


Victor Frankenstein was nervous. Beyond nervous, even. He gulped, trying to bury his anxiety in his stomach. The butterflies fluttering there refused to take it, and so they lodged in his throat instead. He clenched and unclenched his fists as he walked through the hallways, heading toward a certain section of lockers. The moment he was both waiting for and dreading was approaching.

Prom for Steel London High was rapidly approaching. Though Victor wouldn't necessarily desire to go under normal circumstances, he knew that the girl whom he'd had a crush on for half of high school was dying to go despite her attempts to brush it off. Cardia Beckford was incredibly kindhearted and would rather focus on helping others than herself. It was that quality of hers, among others, that made Victor want to give her the world, and was one of the reasons he liked her.

However, there were a couple of things that made Victor worried. One, Cardia was blissfully unaware of her own popularity, so there was a chance that she may have already received an invitation. Or ten. Victor almost balked and turned right back around thinking about it. He rallied by telling himself that she may not have agreed yet. And the other was that she may not want to go with him even if he were the first one to ask. They were part of a close group of friends and he knew for a fact that at least a couple of the other guys were crushing on her, too. At times, it felt like Cardia _liked_ one of the others.

Victor inhaled deeply and let it out slowly as he tried to calm his nerves. He would never find out if he never asked. And that thought helped him gather his courage. And, just like he thought, up ahead at her locker, was the girl who had captured his attention. Almost as if she had sensed him coming, her head turned toward him, and her large, blue-green eyes lit up at the sight of him.

"Victor," she greeted, her lips stretching into a smile. From that smile alone, Victor struggled to keep his composure. "What's up? Did you need something?"

"Cardia," Victor began and then cleared his throat, which had suddenly turned dry. "I-I was just wondering if you - "

"Ah, Victor, there you are! The teacher was looking for you." That familiar, cordial, and confident voice practically echoed in Victor's ears. Arsène Lupin.

Victor half turned and answered, "Ah, okay. I'll be right there!"

"You can tell me next time," Cardia told him gently. His disappointment seemed to be obvious.

Victor smiled wryly, and left her with these parting words, "Thanks, Cardia."

And he rushed off to meet the teacher, but not before glancing over his shoulder only to see her back already turned to him. He sighed to himself again and headed off to see what the teacher wanted.

The next time he caught Cardia, it was after school. She was, thankfully, just starting to leave the building, her backpack hanging off one shoulder. Victor made a beeline for her, knowing that it was ask her now or try and summon courage again the next day. The latter seemed like a herculean task, therefore Victor called out to her as soon as he was close enough.

Thankfully, Cardia turned around and greeted him warmly.

"Victor!" She paused. Probably noticing how nervous he was , she asked, "Is everything okay?"

"Oh! Yeah! Everything's fine. I'm sorry if I made you think otherwise. It's just, um…"

Cardia's look of concern at Victor's pause was enough to spur him into saying the important thing, "I was hoping if you - "

"What are you doing, Sister? Father is waiting."

Suddenly, Cardia's hand was being pulled – rather roughly – by her younger brother, Finis. Whom, as it so had happened, also took the time to glare balefully at Victor over his shoulder. Oh boy. Still, Cardia made a hasty goodbye before turning around to follow Finis.

_Well, there went that opportunity._ _However, there should be plenty tomorrow!_ Victor told himself before heading home. However, Victor soon discovered that the universe just wouldn't cooperate that easily. Neither would his friends, for that matter.

First, Victor was lucky (or unlucky) enough to catch Cardia at school before it started, but she barely had time to greet him before Saint Germain, one of their close-knit friends, came up to her. He started asking about an assignment they shared. That was suspicious in and of itself as Victor knew him to be smarter than half the teachers in the school and had perfect grades. As Victor started to walk slowly away, he realized they were talking about _her_ part of the assignment as it appeared to be a group project. Victor felt slightly better, and slightly guilty for suspecting Saint Germain in the first place.

Later, as they waited for their one shared science class to start, Victor tried talking to her across the isle. Impey Barbicane, either not picking up on what was going on or willfully ignoring it, came in between them to flirt with Carida, and then ask her something. He also leaned over and placed a hand on her desk, giving Victor a nice full view of Impey's rear. He sighed and gave up for the time being.

At lunch, Victor had asked to join Cardia at her table, which she readily agreed to. Before Victor could get so much as a word out, she spotted Abraham Van Helsing, and waved him over. The conversation from there was mostly about their mutual interest: martial arts. Victor was pretty much ignored, though Cardia noticed and apologized a minute before lunch ended.

Just before the last class of the day, Victor swung by Cardia's class, determined to ask her to prom no matter what it took. However, when he found her, he found Lupin flirting with her, and she was giggling. She was probably taking it as a joke, but Victor couldn't stomach it. He would find a better time when she wasn't happily joking around with Lupin.

After school, Victor sat at home, in his room, at his desk, with his head in his hands. He wanted to scream from frustration. Why couldn't he ask her? Why did so many things have to get in his way? Tomorrow. Do or die, he would ask her tomorrow.

The morning went by uneventfully, other than a few more failed attempts to ask Cardia to prom. The frustrating mounted further and further until, finally, at lunch Victor snapped.

All of them – Lupin, Van Helsing, Impey, Saint Germain, Cardia, and Victor – were in line, waiting for food. Lively as always when they were together, Victor was having a tough time being heard. When he reached his breaking point, Victor screamed, "CARDIA, WILL YOU GO TO PROM WITH ME?!"

Unaware of how loudly he screamed because the cafeteria was so noisy, he was acutely aware when the whole room became silent as a tomb. For a whole minute, no one said anything and they all stared at Victor, whose face by now was the brightest red anyone had ever seen, and at Cardia, who was also blushing pretty hard. Lupin and Saint Germain were grinning, Van Helsing smirking, and Impey gaping like a fish. The others were just staring very intently, waiting for Cardia's response.

"I'd thought you'd never ask," Cardia's voice rang clearly in the silent room. "Yes, I will go with you!"

Victor felt all the tension in his body flush out of him, and began to say, "Tha - "'

A thunderous roar of applause and whistling burst into existence at witnessing such a cute scene. Van Helsing and Lupin slapped Victor on the back, jolting him forward and nearly knocking his glasses off his face. Saint Germain praised Victor's efforts, and Victor briefly wondered if Saint Germain had plotted something, but that train of thought was quickly cut off by Impey's bawling about envying Victor and mourning about his unrequited love.

Victor and Cardia glanced at each other, faces flushing a little before bursting into great, big grins. All things considered, even though they'd be embarrassed after the chaos had died down and after all the trouble Victor went through, Victor had to say it was well worth it.


End file.
